For World which known The Greatest Cavalry charge in war against largest army which was by the the polish winged hussars led by Jan sobieski where a strength of 18,000 winged hussars cavalry going downhill swinging there savers cutting through everything in there path and rip through Massive force 1,00,000 ottoman jannisaries.
That World Should also need to read also about this Greatest Cavalry charge in war by Ranbanka Rathores of Jodhpur (Marwar) under Maharaja Bakht Singh Rathore, where a group of 1,000 Ranbanka Rathores Cavalry going downhill swinging their Swords Smothered the Jaipur frontline which is a combined army of a 100,000 men consisting of Mughals and other Allies.
It is the Indian CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE that has never been highlighted properly. Even though It was an unbelievable feat of arms.
In which one side was led by Greaest Sovereign of its Era Sawai Maharaja Jai Singh and other by Valiant Maharaja Bakht Singh. Of which there are no words to describe the legacy of Sawai Jai Singh II (3 November 1681 – 21 September 1743), He was the most celebrated Rajput King of his time , No any other Rajput and Indian Ruler in Indian History (except some) can achieve what he achieved.
Sawai Jai Singh was the First Hindu Ruler who completely abolished Jaziya tax in India in 1720 , In 1728 the pilgrimage tax on Hindus at Gaya and on many Places was abolished only because of Jai Singh II.
Sawai Jai Singh broke free from the Mughal hegemony, and to assert his sovereignty over every king, Sawai Jai Singh was the first Hindu ruler in centuries to perform the ancient Vedic ceremonies like the Ashwamedha (1716) sacrifices — and the Vajapeya (1734) on both occasions vast amounts were distributed in charity , The Ancient Ashvamegh Yajna was abandoned for Centuries but it was now performed by Jai Singh II.
He got "Sawai" title which means one and a quarter times superior to his contemporaries , Mughal Emperor called him “ Saramad E Raja E Hind “ , He was also known as “ Raj Rajeshwar “ and “ Shri Shantanu Jii “
He joined Rajput Rebellion ( 1708–1710) and became major part of Rebellions against Mughals , which lead to complete decline of Mughal Empire
Sawai Jai Singh was the greatest Philosoper of his time, he had a great interest in mathematics, architecture and astronomy. He commissioned the Jantar Mantar observatories at multiple places in India, including his capital Jaipur. He had Euclid's "Elements of Geometry" translated into Sanskrit. There are many works of Jai Singh II.
These days Sawai Jai Singh's observatories at Jaipur, Varanasi, and Ujjain are functional. Only the one at Delhi is not functional and the one at Mathura disappeared a long time ago.
After continuous raids of Maratha's in North , he decided to wage war , The “ Battle of Pilsud “ also known as Battle of Kampel was fought between Rajputs under Sawai Jai Singh and Maratha Empire in which Jai Singh decisively defeated Maratha's and forced them to retreat across Narmada river , he further chased them to Narmada , Jai Singh conflicted with Maratha's many times
He build the “ Jay Baan “ canon which still consider as the “ The Largest Canon on wheels “ in World , The cannon was fired only once, with a charge of 100 kilograms (220 lb) of gunpowder, and when fired was claimed to have covered a distance of about 35 kilometres (22 mi). It is said that the projectile fired from it made a small lake in Chaksu.
He promoted Sanskrit learning and initiated reforms in Hindu society like the abolition of Sati and curbing the wasteful expenditures in Rajput weddings. He also tried to make reforms of remarriage of widow's
He founded the fortified city of Jaipur, which was the most planned city of that time in world.
The turning point of Sawai Jai Singh's life came in destructive Battle of Gangwana, as seen according to his side. have seen many vlogger's in their post sympathizes more with Rathore Rajputs but the main reason of this battle were Rathore's itself, Sawai Jai Singh was never wished to fight against their own Rajput brothers but due to internal dispute's of Rathore's was forced to fight Battle of Gangwana, Though He along with his allies defeated Rathore's and emerged victorious but the shock of destructive outcomes of this war was stayed with him for his rest of his life, The bravery of Marwar Ranbanka Rathore was praised as they fought against 1,00,000 combined Armies of Sawai Jai Singh 2 and his allies with their 1000 small army, of which only few men's survived.
Jodhpur style painting depicting Bhakt Singh practicing archery, circa 1750
On the other side Raja Bakht Singh Rathore of Marwar (16 August 1706 – 21 September 1752) ruled over various domains in the Jodhpur and Marwar states and was a major political force during his life.
Raja Bakht Singh was born on 16 August 1706 as the second son of Maharaja Ajit Singh, ruler of Marwar. At the time of Bakht's birth, his family was in open revolt against the Mughal Empire due to an ongoing territorial dispute over Gujarat. His father was pardoned by Muhammad Azam Shah in 1708, granting the Rathore clan control over the Kingdom of Marwar and the city of Jodhpur.
In 1724, Bakht Singh and his elder brother Abhai Singh plotted to kill their father and usurp his position as Raja. They succeeded, and Abhai Singh became the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Marwar and Jodhpur. This abrupt change of leadership sparked a brief civil war among the Rathore in Marwar, during which the brothers employed Maratha soldiers to fight their enemies. At this time Marwar was a vassal of the Mughal Empire, which was in constant conflict with the Maratha Empire. The allowing of Maratha soldiers onto Mughal territory to solve a domestic dispute effectively estranged the Rathores from the Mughal government.
Siege of Ahmedabad
In 1730 a taxation depute against Sarbuland Khan (Nawab of Gujarat) resulted in Abhai Singh laying siege to the city of Ahmedabad. Bakht Singh personally led the storming of the city, the Marwar army lost 120 soldiers and 700 were injured while Sarbuland Khan lost his son in the cannonade and most of his men were slaughtered along with high ranking Mughal Mansabdars (nobles), some ranking as high as 3,000. Sarbuland Khan surrendered after three days of fighting, after which the Mughal emperor was forced to make Abhai Singh the lord of Ahmedabad and the governor of Gujarat. Bakht Singh was commended for his bravery during the battle.
Maharaja Bakht Singh at the Jharokha window of the Bakhat Singh Mahal, Nagaur
By 1739, Bakht Singh had been appointed lord of Nagaur. Seeking to expand his influence, he attempted to force concessions from the Bikaner State, calling on his brother for support. The Raja of Bikaner sent a letter to Jai Singh II, the powerful Maharaja of the Kingdom of Jaipur, requesting assistance. Jai Singh sent a letter to Abhai Singh asking for leniency to be shown to Bikaner, a request Abhai sharply refuted. Seeking to end the conflict, Jai Singh dispatched his minister Vidyadhar to Bakht Singh. Bakht agreed to withdraw his men from the conflict if he were paid by Jaipur and given the town of Merta. This was done, and with Bakht Singh now removed as a threat, Jai Singh was able to force Abhai to make peace.
Jai Singh then stationed his army close to Jodhpur and threatened to burn it to the ground unless the siege was lifted. Abhai was forced to relent, and signed a treaty according to which:-
The state of Marwar would pay 1,00,000 Rupees in gold, 25,000 in Jewels and give 3 Elephants as Nazarana (Submission) to the Mughal Emperor.
Marwar would pay 20,00,000 Rupees to Jai Singh as war reparations.
The payment would be done in 4 days. Five barons and Raghunath Bhandari were to remain hostages for it.
Merta will be handed over to Bhakt Singh.
Marwar would not obstruct Jai Singh in his possessions of the Ajmer subah.
No prince or baron of Marwar would be allowed to seek private audience with the Mughal emperor without Jai Singh's permission.
Marwar cannot keep foreign relations with the Marathas without the mediation of the Jaipur Raja.
Abhai Singh's Councillors must be men selected by the Jaipur court.
Unable to face Jaipur alone, Abhai Singh was forced to sign a treaty with Jai Singh. The Kingdom of Marwar was forced to pay 1 lakh (100000) rupees to the Mughals, 20 lakh (2000000) to Jaipur, give up hostages, and was prohibited from sending emissaries to the Mughal court without the express approval of Jai Singh. The latter condition effectively made Marwar a vassal of Jaipur, as Abhai could no longer request aid from the Mughal government.
The peace treaty angered many of the Rathors, with the Rathor nobility claiming, "Our noses have been cut off by the Kachhawas."
In 1741, Maharaja Abhai Singh began to gather his forces at Jodhpur in preparation for a war of revenge/ against Jaipur. Jai Singh detected these movements and marshaled his army, allies, vassals, and every nearby Mughal garrison to invade Marwar. As the Jaipur army advanced, Bakht Singh arrived at Merta, the forward camp for the Rathor and Marwar army. He entered the Raja's durbar, where he was chastised by his fellow Rathors for betraying them. Bhakt accepted his wrongdoing, and promised to lead his personal cavalry contingent against the oncoming Jaipur. As described in A Comprehensive History of India (1712-1772),
"Bhakt singh now found that his selfish plot had kindled a national warfare which threatened the honour of his clan. So he temporarily set aside his personal ambition and saved the honour of the Rathors by conspicuous gallantry."
Sawai Jai Singh and the Jaipur army made camp at Kunchgaon, 11 miles east of Pushkar Lake. Jai positioned a long line of guns in the direction of the Marwar to defend the encampment. The combined army totaled 40000-100000 men from Jaipur and the various states allied with Jai Singh. Bakht's army consisted of 1000 Rathor horsemen under his personal command. Bakht Singh at first waited for reinforcements. As, however, no reinforcements arrived, Bakht Singh became determined to attack Jai Singh with his small force.
Bakht Singh and his men charged the Jaipur defenses and quickly punched through Jai Singh's gun line. The Rathors rode through the Jaipur army, cutting down thousands of men. The cavalry penetration was so deep that the Rathors burst through the rear of the Jaipur army and began to raid the baggage train. Tents and supplies were burned, and Bakht seized Sitaramji, Jai Singh's personal family idol. The Rathors galloped from one end to the other causing havoc in the large masses of confused men and horses, the Jaipur army fled in panic, and within 4 hours the Rathors held the field.
Sir Jadunath Sarkar quotes that - "the battle front was like tigers upon a flock of sheep".
By this point Bakht's force had been severely depleted, with only 70 horsemen still left alive. Bakht himself was wounded by both a bullet and an arrow. The Mughal contingent of Jai's battered army began firing rockets onto the battlefield, since Bhakt Singh could not see any enemies on the field and the direction of the artillery was covered by smoke and dust, he signalled a retreat, forcing the withdraw of the remaining Rathors.
Sawai Jai Singh's army lost several thousands of its soldiers in the battle. Historian Jadunath Sarkar states that according to Chahar Gulzar-i-Shujai of Harcharan Das, who was an eye-witness to the battle, exaggerated the casualties with 12,000 of Jai Singh's men killed and another 12,000 wounded.
The Mughal Emperor had sent 10,000 men with three of his generals to help Jai Singh in keeping the Marathas in check, however the battle caused great panic amongst the Mughal troops leading to a mass desertion. After the battle the Mughal generals were left with just a hundred men.
Narendra Singh in his book "Thirty decisive battles of Jaipur" has given a fantasized account of the battle. According to him, :-
Bhakt Singh after losing most of his men started shouting for a duel with Jai Singh II, this enraged the nobles of Jaipur who insulted Bakht Singh and told him to leave the battle in an honourable manner, the Raja of Shahpura upon seeing Bhakt Singh bleeding profusely, accepted the duel on behalf of the Jaipur Raja and was defeated. Bhakt Singh finally gave up after seeing that Jai Singh II would not come out of his defensive position and retreated with his men.
The battle resulted in a peace treaty favorable to Marwar and ended a period of Jaipur domination in Rajputana. The Jaipur army held the field after the battle at Gangwana, but had been severely demoralized by the attack. "Even Jaipur bards, could not refrain from awarding the meed of valour to their foes". Jai Singh had no choice but to retreat. One month later (8 July) both sides exchanged captured war loot with each other. The Maharana of Udaipur mediated a peace between Marwar and Jaipur later that year. Gangwana was the last battle fought by Jai Singh, as he could never recover from the shock he received from the outcome of the war and died two years later.
Later life
On 29 June 1741, Bakht Singh was offered Gujarat by the Mughal Emperor. The Mughals hoped that Bakht Singh could become its subedar and counter the rising power of the Marathas. Before accepting, Singh sent his spies to Gujarat and upon learning of the hopeless situation, declined the offer.
On 17 June 1749, Abhai Singh died, with his eldest son Ram Singh succeeding him. Bakht Singh (his uncle) disagreed with this primogeniture and rose up in revolt. Bakht Singh emerged triumphant in the battle of Luniawas, becoming the Maharaja of Marwar and Jodhpur in July 1751. Bakht Singh's first step as a ruler was to raise an army in Ajmer and to start fortifying his holdings to protect Marwar from external threats like the Mughals, Marathas and Afghans. On May 1752 Jayapa Sindhia and Ram Singh attacked Ajmer, sacked it and massacred the populace. Upon learning of the invasion, Bakht Singh marched with his army and camped 8 miles away from Ajmer. He waited till July and then attacked Jayapa. Bakht Singh blocked the surrounding paths and placed his guns on a hill, he then bombarded the Marathas, upon receiving heavy casualties, the Marathas fled along with the army of Ram Singh. Bakht Singh died a sudden death on 21 September 1752. According to Persian historians, he died by cholera while Vir Vinod claims that he was poisoned by Madho Singh I.
